1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for performing voice recognition. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to improve voice recognition based on geographic information associated with a caller.
2. Related Art
As computer systems and telephone networks modernize, it has become commercially feasible to provide information to users or subscribers over audio user interfaces, e.g., telephone and other audio networks and systems. These services allow users, e.g., “callers,” to interface with a computer system for receiving and entering information. A number of these types of services utilize computer implemented automatic voice recognition tools to allow a computer system to understand and react to callers' spoken commands and information: This has proven to be an effective mechanism for providing information because telephone systems are ubiquitous, familiar with most people and relatively easy to use, understand and operate.
In a directory assistance application, listings are searched for a particular locality. As a result, users must specify a city and state that the desired listing is located. One problem is that some cities have similar sounding names, for example, Moorestown, Morristown, and Mauricetown, in New Jersey. This can cause problems for a directory assistance application that uses voice recognition to determine what listing the caller wants.
Furthermore users sometimes omit the state when specifying cities, which makes many city names ambiguous to the voice recognition application. For example, Boston, Mass. and Austin, Tex. sound similar when the state is omitted. Also, there is a separate Springfield in the following states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, Vermont, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Colorado, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Louisiana, West Virginia, Minnesota, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Idaho, Indiana and South Dakota. As a result of the ambiguity, many times, a caller is presented the incorrect directory listing (e.g., a listing with a similar sounding name or a listing with the same name in another state). This further causes problems for a directory assistance application that uses voice recognition to determine what listing the caller wants.